WOKINGHAM council leader Clive Jones has received a commitment from the government to meet over the borough’s housing numbers.
Earlier this week, housing minister Lucy Frazer wrote to Cllr Jones confirming that she would be prepared to discuss the issue.
It follows years of campaigning, both by former council leader Cllr John Halsall, and Cllr Jones.
The government’s housing target was 1,635, but Cllr Halsall’s lobbying – which included threatening to parade naked in Whitehall – saw that number cut back to 759, but even this is felt to be too high, something that his consultation of residents confirmed.
On becoming leader in May, one of the first things that Cllr Jones did was to write to the then Levelling Up secretary, Michael Gove, requesting a conversation. This was confirmed when the two met at a conference just days before Mr Gove was sacked by outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson.
Since then, there have been two more ministers in his role, before he was reappointed by current prime minister Rishi Sunak.
In the past week, parliament had been due to vote on government’s housing plans, but this was removed due to fears of a rebellion from Conservative MPs who wanted to see target numbers reduced or scrapped.
Cllr Jones was delighted that Ms Frazer is happy to meet.
“She explained that she couldn’t come to Wokingham, as she was too busy, but she is going to have a round-table discussion, and I would be invited,” he said.
“It is definitely, definitely progress. Being persistent is becoming to pay off.”
